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20 | OHCC LIVING | NOVEMBER 2019 | From time to time you may have seen wine for sale from the Russian River Valley. The Russian River flows for some 110 miles from headwaters north of Ukiah, southward through Mendocino and Sonoma Counties, ending up flowing into the Pacific at Jenner. Some of the most famous wine regions in California are drained by the Russian River. Why is it called the Russian River? For this we have to go back a ways in history. Back around 1812, when the new American republic was fighting a second war of independence with Great Britain, some Russian trappers and fur traders appeared along the northern California coast. They had come down from Alaska, which at the time was Russian America. They were looking for sea otters, for their pelts, and they were looking for better land and especially a better climate for farming, than they had found in Alaska. They landed on the Sonoma coast and started building a fort – Fort Ross. Actually, 'Ross' is a bad transliteration. They named it, using Cyrillic script, 'Pocc,' which means Russian. The Russian trappers were really good at what they did. They were so good, after a while there were no more otters to trap. And the misty, cool climate of the region was not so good for growing the kinds of crops they were interested in — probably beets and potatoes. So, eventually, they decided to sell their holdings in California. The British were not interested in Fort Ross, and the Mexicans, who were slowly moving northward in California, were also not interested. Finally, they accepted a low-ball offer from an American settler named John Sutter, in 1841. Sutter offered them $30,000, and they accepted it. But he never paid. Yes, this is the same Sutter of Sutter's Creek, near Sacramento, where the California Gold Rush began a few years after the Russians left. Today, the Russian River Valley AVA accounts for about one-sixth of the total planted vineyard acreage in Sonoma County. La Crema, De Loach, and Rodney Strong are among the big names from this area. Let's hope the modern day Russians don't find out that Sutter stiffed them; we have enough going on with Russia as it is. The Ocean Hills Wine Tasting Club has monthly tastings in members' homes. Each tasting has a theme, and around five varieties are poured. Annual dues are $12 per person. Wine Tasting Club The Nov. 21 meeting of the Photography Club will be based on a slide show and critique of pictures from the recent field trip to Queen Califia's Magic Circle at Kit Carson Park, Escondido. As seen in the attached photograph, the sculptures are huge, whimsical and colorful and provided multiple images for imaginative and creative photography. This amazing creation is the only American sculpture garden and the last major international project created by French artist Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002), said to be inspired by California's mythic, historic, and cultural roots. The following meeting on Thurs., Dec. 19 will be the club's holiday party. Photography The Russian River